Title
Alpha-smooth muscle actin expression in the stroma predicts resistance to Trastuzumab in patients with Early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer
Date Issued
15 November 2021
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Vathiotis I.A.
Moutafi M.K.
Divakar P.
Aung T.N.
Qing T.
Fernandez A.
Yaghoobi V.
El-Abed S.
Wang Y.
Guillaume S.
Nuciforo P.
Huober J.
Di Cosimo S.
Kim S.B.
Harbeck N.
Shafi S.
Syrigos K.N.
Fountzilas G.
Sotiriou C.
Pusztai L.
Warren S.
Rimm D.L.
Publisher(s)
American Association for Cancer Research Inc.
Abstract
Purpose: The companion diagnostic test for trastuzumab has not changed much in the last 25 years. We used high-plex digital spatial profiling to identify biomarkers besides HER2 that can help predict response to trastuzumab in HER2-positive breast cancer. Experimental Design: Fifty-eight protein targets were measured in three different molecularly defined compartments by the NanoString GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler (DSP) in a tissue microarray containing 151 patients with breast cancer that received adjuvant trastuzumab as part of the Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group 10/05 clinical trial. Promising candidate biomarkers were orthogonally validated with quantitative immunofluorescence (QIF). RNA-sequencing data from the Neoadjuvant Lapatinib and/or Trastuzumab Treatment Optimisation Study (NeoALTTO) were accessed to provide independent cohort validation. Disease-free survival (DFS) was the main outcome assessed. Statistical analyses were performed using a two-sided test (α = 0.05) and multiple testing correction (Benjamini- Hochberg method, FDR < 0.1). Results: By DSP, high expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), both in the leukocyte and stromal compartments, was associated with shorter DFS in univariate analysis (P = 0.002 and P= 0.023, respectively). High a-SMA expression in the stroma was validated by QIF after controlling for estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor status [HR, 3.12; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.12-8.68; P = 0.029] showing recurrence on trastuzumab in the same cohort. In the NeoALTTO cohort, elevated levels of ACTA2 were predictive for shorter DFS in the multivariate analysis (HR, 3.21; 95% CI, 1.14-9.05; P = 0.027). Conclusions: This work identifies a-SMA as a novel, easyto- implement biomarker of resistance to trastuzumab that may be valuable in settings where trastuzumab is combined with other therapies.
Start page
6156
End page
6163
Volume
27
Issue
22
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Oncología Química medicinal
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85119898731
PubMed ID
Source
Clinical Cancer Research
ISSN of the container
10780432
Sponsor(s)
This research was supported by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (D.L. Rimm and L. Pusztai) and an NCI R01 grant (R01CA219647), to L. Pusztai. I.A. Vathiotis and M.K. Moutafi are supported by a scholarship from the Hellenic Society of Medical Oncologists (HESMO). The authors thank Lori A. Charette and the staff of Yale Pathology tissue services for expert histology services.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus